Medical News

Poor Medication Adherence Rates Prompt Formation of Broad-Based Coalition – AAFP

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Six out of 10 patients do not take their medications as prescribed by their physicians, and patients with multiple chronic conditions have the lowest medication adherence rates, according to AAFP Board member Rebecca Jaffe, M.D., M.P.H.

 

Sally Greenberg, executive director of the National Consumers League, the oldest consumer organization in the United States, talked about barriers to adherence, saying that “there are many reasons why patients are not adherent.”Some patients may be reluctant to remain adherent because of medication side effects, such as sleeplessness or weight gain. Others may be unconvinced about the need to take medications because they do not have symptoms associated with their chronic illness, Greenberg said.Forgetfulness is another issue for some patients, making it difficult for them to remember to take their medications. Out-of-pocket costs may be a challenge for some patients, as well, creating barriers that discourage patients from filling prescriptions, according to Greenberg.

via Poor Medication Adherence Rates Prompt Formation of Broad-Based Coalition — AAFP News Now — AAFP.

Elevated Resting Heart Rate and All-cause Mortality

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Conclusions Elevated RHR is a risk factor for mortality independent of physical fitness, leisure-time physical activity and other major cardiovascular risk factors.

via Elevated resting heart rate, physical fitness and all-cause mortality: a 16-year follow-up in the Copenhagen Male Study — Jensen et al. — Heart.

Walk or Run? Think Distance, Not Speed

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Researchers evaluated 33,060 runners in the National Runners’ Health Study and 15,045 walkers in the National Walkers’ Health Study. Dr. Thompson said there will be more results coming from the data. The study found:

  • Running reduced the risk for first-time hypertension 4.2%, and walking reduced it by 7.2%.
  • Running cut the risk for first-time high cholesterol 4.3%, and walking reduced it by 7.0%.
  • Running cut the risk for first-time diabetes 12.1%, and walking decreased it by 12.3%.
  • Running reduced coronary heart disease 4.5% compared with 9.3% for walking.

via Walk or run? Think distance, not speed, for health benefits – amednews.com.

GREAT NEWS for this aging tortoise who no longer runs 10-k’s due to bilateral knee osteoarthritis.

Cinnamon Game Harms Players

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Calls to the American Association of Poison Control Centers (AAPCC) related to cinnamon increased from 51 in 2011 to 178 calls in the first 6 months of 2012, wrote Steven Lipshultz, MD, of University of Miami’s Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine in Florida, and colleagues, online in a Perspective in Pediatrics.

 

Of the 178 calls, 122 (69%) were classified as intentional misuse or abuse “consistent with the cinnamon challenge,” the authors wrote, and about (17%) required medical attention.

 

The challenge requires a person to swallow a tablespoon of the dry, ground spice in 60 seconds without drinking fluids.

 

The authors pointed to 51,000 YouTube video clips — one viewed 19 million times — as of August 2012 that showed adolescents watching someone coughing and choking as the cinnamon triggers a severe gag reflex. They said the popularity of the Internet coupled with peer pressure instigated too many cinnamon challenges.

via Cinnamon Game Harms Players.

I am so thankful my own children are (mostly) past the stupid stage.

Slow Pace Linked to Early Death in Renal Patients

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Clinical assessment of gait speed and ‘timed up and go’ performance — the time it takes to stand from a seated position, walk around a cone placed 4 meters away, and return — were more strongly predictive of 3-year mortality than kidney function or standard blood testing in the study, published this week in the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology.

via Slow Pace Linked to Early Death in Renal Patients.

Association of Clinical Symptomatic Hypoglycemia With Cardiovascular Events and Total Mortality in Type 2 Diabetes

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CONCLUSIONS: Symptomatic hypoglycemia, whether clinically mild or severe, is associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular events, all-cause hospitalization, and all-cause mortality. More attention may be needed for diabetic patients with hypoglycemic episodes.

via Association of Clinical Symptomatic Hypoglycemia With Cardiovascular Events and Total Mortality in Type 2 Diabetes.

Watch those hypoglycemic episodes in applicants with T2DM.